Code of Conduct
Heartbeat is built for staying close to the people you actually care about — not for reach, engagement, or strangers. Everyone here agreed to these rules before joining.
Think of this as a social contract. Heartbeat only works if the people on it look after it together — everyone here is both a guest and a host. A positive place isn't something the site can hand you; it's something we keep building for each other. These rules are the shared part of that bargain, and keeping them is how each of us holds up our end.
Real names, always
No anonymity and no throwaway accounts. You sign up with your real first and last name, and it's always visible next to everything you post, even if you also use a nickname. Impersonating someone else, or signing up under a name that isn't your own, isn't allowed. If your name genuinely changes, update it in your profile settings — you don't need a new account.
Be respectful — this is not open to interpretation
Harassment, bullying, sexual content, threats or incitement of violence, and spam are never allowed, whether in a post, a comment, or a private follow request. This applies regardless of how small or private your audience is for a given post — a hand-picked audience of one is still a real person who deserves respect.
Respect the audience someone chose
When someone shares a post with you, they chose to include you deliberately. Don't screenshot, forward, or repost their content outside Heartbeat without asking first.
You're in control of your own space
Every post owner can disable comments on their own posts, or hide/delete individual comments, at any time, without needing anyone's permission.
Your privacy, and how ads work here
Your email and phone number (if you add one) are never shared or sold — they're only used so someone who already has that contact info can find your account here, the same way you'd look up a friend already in your phone. Nobody can browse or search for your contact info without already knowing it.
If you choose to add your city, state, and ZIP code, it's only ever used to show you ads relevant to your area — never shared or sold. Think of it like subscribing to a local newspaper: you see ads for your area because the newspaper is delivered to your address, not because the ads know anything about you. Advertisers only ever see how many people an ad reached in total, never who any of them were.
Reporting and enforcement
If someone violates this Code of Conduct, report the post or comment and it goes to the admin queue for review. The admin may dismiss the report, hide the content, or suspend the account responsible. Accounts with a pattern of actioned reports are flagged for manual review.